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Injuries kept Francisco from arriving sooner

Injuries kept Francisco from arriving sooner

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010111 Juan Francisco

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CINCINNATI -- Third base prospect Juan Francisco was among the September callups from Triple-A Louisville who joined the Reds on Thursday. Francisco knew if he had better luck, he would have been up a lot sooner.

Regular third baseman Scott Rolen has had two stints on the disabled list because of shoulder issues, the second time has been since July 22. The slack would normally be Francisco's to pick up, but he was also hurt. He was on the DL with the Reds with a strained left calf in April. And in July, he missed a month at Louisville with a torn meniscus in his right knee that required surgery.

"I missed my opportunity, but I am here now, and I'm happy," said Francisco, who went 0-for-3 in a 6-4 loss to the Phillies. "I'm ready to play now."

Francisco has been hitting well since coming off of Louisville's DL and was batting .307 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs overall for the Bats.

It's unclear how much playing time Francisco will get the final month of the season. Rolen is working to come back from left shoulder surgery and has been getting close to a return. The Reds also have Todd Frazier, Miguel Cairo and Yonder Alonso as third basemen.

"After the game [Wednesday], he was a little sore," Reds manager Dusty Baker said of Rolen. "Perhaps he had been trying to do too much. He had been hitting a lot and other things. Today he had to back up a little bit. It's more him possibly wanting him to play than us pushing him."